Ohio coach's sentence includes money for Newtown

Published: December 19, 2012 11:41AM

CANTON, Ohio (AP) -- A former high school basketball coach who pleaded guilty to videotaping boys in a locker room shower was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison and ordered to give $5,000 to the Connecticut community where a gunman killed 26 people.

The judge didn't specify exactly where Scott Studer's fine should be directed, only that it go to the Newtown, Conn., community.

Studer, 46, was sentenced after he pleaded guilty to an indictment charging him with eight counts of illegal use of a minor in a nudity-oriented material or performance.

Stark County Common Pleas Judge Frank Forchione also ordered the tapes destroyed and banned Studer for life from any contact with the victims, from coaching and from attending any activities at Jackson High School near Canton.

At least 74 boys have been identified on the secretly recorded videotapes made over the span of eight years, Jackson Township police Lt. Rick Mitchell said Wednesday. He wasn't sure whether more victims might be identified.

The parents of all those who were videotaped and the victims who are now adults have been notified, he said.

Mitchell said the community would welcome the resolution of the case.

"I think the quicker we get it done, the better. Everyone can move on from that point," Mitchell said.

Studer coached the freshman boys basketball team at Jackson High and was arrested after investigators searched his home and found nude images on a DVD, a computer and a flash drive. He quit as coach and school building aide the day he was arrested last month

The search of Studer's home was led by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which hasn't commented on what led its investigators to him.

Police said the videotaping involved student-athletes. There was no evidence of videotaping in the visitor locker room, police said.